Hauled In Again
by Beth Smith
Summary: What with that dead kid in the park and Dally getting hauled into the station, well it scared us something awful Dally's trip to the station.


**Disclaimer: **_The Outsiders _belongs to S.E. Hinton. The film version belongs to Francis Ford Coppola. Matt Dillon belongs to himself, unfortunately, lol.  
**A/N: **This idea came from marsonfire on She keeps a list of fanfic ideas for others or herself to use... I wrote this one... And I must say, I kinda like it. It's one of the few fanfics I've written about _The Outsiders_ and Dally that has some humor, which I think is fun... I'm not sure if I got Dally's voice down that well... what do you guys think?

**Hauled In... Again...**

My God, how did Ponyboy and Johnny get in so much trouble?

And of all things, they get in trouble, and Tulsa's finest haul _ME_ down to the station! I was headin' over to Two-Bit's from Buck's and I heard that stupid cop... James, or Jamison, or something... yelling, "Winston! Hold it!"

I rolled my eyes as he pushed me onto the hood of his car and cuffed me. "C'mon," he said. "We're gonna have to have us a heart-to-heart down at the station."

"Listen, man," I said, playing my best dumb look. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Sure you don't. You know somethin', Winston? We didn't have near as much trouble here until you showed up."

I grinned, which really pissed him off. "Sure ya did... I just make trouble alot more interesting."

The cop pushed me into his car and drove me down to the station. Oh, my, my... The station... My home away from home. I could almost feel myself hitting my cot to end the day. Heck, I don't mind sleeping in a jail cell. Least I know I got a place _to_ sleep when I'm in jail.

We got to the station, and the cop led me in. Then, he immediately jumped down my throat. "What do you know, Winston?"

"About what, dear officer?" I asked innocently.

He glared at me, so I glared back.

"Come on, Dallas," he said. "Tell me what you know about the murder at the fountain." I could tell he was sick of my bull already... So naturally, I shot some more.

"Murder?" I exclaimed. "Gee, Officer... a murder you say?"

"Listen, Winston!" he yelled. He slapped the table hard in front of me. I hope the fuzz broke his wristbone. "I know that if anybody knows about a murder, it's you."

"Geez," I said, acting... kinda like that Socy chick acted when I asked her about her red hair... Like I'd been violated or somethin'. "I thought I was... uh..." I snapped my fingers, searching for the phrase. "Innocent until proven guilty."

Then I started laughing, 'cause that reminded me of one time when I got sent to the cooler for a few days for something a Soc did... Two-Bit said I was "innocent until proven greasy."

The cop looked ready to belt me... but good. Let him hit me. I didn't much care. It wouldn't be my worst experience with the fuzz.

The cop asked me a buncha questions like, "Where were you last night between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am?"

I grinned at him. "First, I was fightin' Tim Shepard. Then I went over to Buck Merill's place to get some sleep."

He looked at me kinda funny. Like I was off my rocker or somethin'. So what? I can't help it if Buck's always got a spare room, and I can sleep through Gabriel's horn, plus a stampede and a buncha old corny country music.

"Listen," I said. "Last night, I didn't even _see_ the fountain."

"Winston, maybe you didn't, but maybe somebody you know did," he said, like he was askin' me a question instead of tellin' me somethin'.

"OK," I said. "Maybe I do know somethin'." I sighed like I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't. "But, see, officer... I ain't had nothin' to eat since yesterday evenin', and it's already almost lunch time... I'm almost starvin'."

"You can eat when you get done talkin'," he said.

"Oh, my!" I said. "Wouldn't it just be horrible if it got out that you were usin' starvation torture on a poor kid to make him tell ya what he knew?"

I saw him trembling with anger. God knew he wished he could bust me a good one. Then, just to piss him off more, I laughed out loud. Then, I made my best straight poker face. "Officer... I'm feeling so weak. I think I might faint."

The cop almost growled at me. "OK, FINE!" He opened his drawer and grabbed a pack of crackers. "Here!" he snapped.

"Why thank you, officer," I said, giving him a smile that Two-Bit called "the Dallas Winston I'm-trying-not-to-kill-you smile." "But I'll need a Coke to wash these crackers down with... Unless you have a beer."

The cop looked at me like I was an idiot or something. That almost struck me funny. But I was worried about Pony and Johnny, so I thought about that to keep from laughing. I didn't know if the cop could make it through one more snicker from me without killin' me.

The cop handed me a can of Coke from under his desk.

"It's hot!" I complained like a little kid. Gah. Then I remembered why I've always hated little kids so much.

The cop looked at me angrily. "Fine, Winston. I'll just put you in a cell for a while and let you think about it."

I looked at him, pretending I was really scared now. "OK, OK!" I said. "It was a coupla kids I know... They're goin' to Texas, man... Don't let nobody hurt 'em, though... Please?" I gave him a look like a whipped pup. Almost like that look Johnny's had ever since the Soc got him.

"Good boy," the cop said. He uncuffed me and said. "Have a nice day."

I grinned as I walked back out into the street. "Sucker."

**A/N: **Now, click that purple button, por favor!


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